United Kingdom supreme court rules minimum alcohol pricing is legal

The SWA had brought a legal challenge to the legislation after it was passed, taking the case to the highest court in Scotland and the European Court of Justice, before it ended up at the UK's highest court.

After a five-year legal battle against the plans led by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), the court has ruled that minimum pricing is legal under European Union law on health grounds.

"In agreement with the Lord Advocate, minimum pricing targets the health hazards of cheap alcohol and the groups most affected, in a way that an increase in excise or Value-Added Tax would not".

Alcohol misuse results in about 670 hospital admissions and 24 deaths a week - with the Scottish Government saying death rates are nearly 1.5 times higher now than they were in the early 1980s.

The Supreme Court judgement was welcomed by Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, who tweeted: 'Absolutely delighted that minimum pricing has been upheld by the Supreme Court.

"This has been a long road, and no doubt the policy will continue to have its critics, but it is a bold and necessary move to improve public health", she said.

Commenting on the decision, Colin Neill, Chief Executive of Hospitality Ulster said, "The ruling by the UK Supreme Court clears the way for Scotland to introduce price controls on cheap alcohol to tackle problem drinking".

How much will booze cost under the policy?

The Court found that the Scottish Government's objective through the 2012 Act was to tackle alcohol misuse and overconsumption manifesting themselves, in particular, in the health and social problems suffered by those in poverty in deprived parts of Scotland. By targeting the correlation between harmful drinking levels and strong, cheap alcohol, MUP will help reduce irresponsible alcohol consumption and moderate the relationship some of our society has with alcohol. "We will proceed with plans to introduce minimum unit pricing as quickly as possible".

"Today's UK Supreme Court decision will have an immediate and lasting impact on public health policy in Scotland".

Some form of minimum pricing is in place in six countries - Canada, certain states of the USA, Russia, Moldova, Ukraine and Uzbekistan - but this is understood to be the first time a government has set a floor price per unit.

Scotch Whisky Association chief executive Karen Betts responded: "We will now look to the Scottish and United Kingdom governments to support the industry against the negative effects of trade barriers being raised in overseas markets that discriminate against Scotch Whisky as a outcome of minimum pricing, and to argue for fair competition on our behalf".

'This is vital in order that the jobs and investment the industry provides in Scotland are not damaged.

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